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Clone Campaigns Questions & Answers

Questions asked by Joel Peterson, Joshua Griffin, and Mark Isaacson

We had the opportunity to send a few questions in to LucasArts about Clone
Campaigns, the upcoming expansion pack for Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, the
Real Time Strategy game based on the same engine as Microsoft's Age of Empires
II. The questions were answered by Garry Gaber, Project Director for Galactic
Battlegrounds and Clone Campaigns.

TFN Games: Will the release come out before or after
the theatrical release of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones?Garry Gaber: We hope to ship Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone
Campaigns day and date with the motion picture.

TFN
Games: How long has this expansion been planned?Garry Gaber: We started working on the design two weeks after Star Wars
Galactic Battlegrounds shipped.

TFN Games: Is
Galactic Battlegrounds and the expansion pack the first of many LucasArts titles
using Ensemble Studios' engines?Garry Gaber: I can't really comment
about future projects except to say that I hope so - Ensemble is a triple A
development house that produces some excellent engines.

TFN Games: Can we expect to see more titles and
expansion packs with a relation to Galactic Battlegrounds (even without Ensemble
Studio technology)?Garry Gaber: Only time will tell.

TFN Games: What other improvements can we expect for
Galactic Battlegrounds with the Clones Campaigns?Garry Gaber: We've
addressed the sound effects and visual effects in the original game, giving them
a much better feel. We have added units for the existing civilizations, as well
as the new civs. A couple in particular are the Air Cruiser (sort of a flying
AT-AT) and the Power Droid (a walking power core). We've readdressed balancing
as well as adding team bonuses - every side now gives and gets bonuses from its
allies when joining in a multiplayer game.

TFN Games: What new civilizations can we expect to see
in this expansion?Garry Gaber: There are two new civilizations, both
based on Episode II entities - the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of
Independent Systems.

TFN Games: How many of the units, based on Star Wars:
Episode II: Attack of the Clones, have been developed by the GB team themselves?
Garry Gaber: About half of the units are developed by the team, but all were
based on concepts for the motion picture wherever possible.

TFN Games: Since CC ties in with Star Wars: Episode
II, how close has the GB crew been to the development of the movie?
Garry Gaber: Too close. :) We know just about everything that is going to happen
in the movie.

TFN Games: How much of the fans wants/want nots have
you taken into consideration while developing CC?Garry Gaber: We take
what the fans say extremely seriously - and have designed the game accordingly.
For instance, a lot of fans wanted the AT-AT to be able to shoot at air units,
like in "The Empire Strikes Back". We added that capability as part of the
technology upgrade "Walker Research". Also, there were a lot of requests for
Jabba's forces - we've got those in the scenario editor, and even found ways to
integrate them into a couple scenarios. We listen to, and attentively read what
the fans have to say about this game.

TFN Games: So far, have the sales figures for Galactic
Battlegrounds been what you were hoping for?Garry Gaber: Galactic
Battlegrounds has sold steadily well. Well enough in fact to justify an
expansion pack.

TFN Games: Will the Force Boat (cheat: 'forceboat'
while cursor over water) have any sort of upgrades? The group of people that
started the Force Boat at our Jedi Council forums are extremely anxious to know.
Garry Gaber: The Force Boat was a demo-only cheat - a nod and a wink to
the fans.

Thank you for Garry Gaber and all of the wonderful people at LucasArts Public
Relations for their time!